


A Love Story like Yours

by KatcadeCascade (DreamWings231)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Blake being impartial will be a running theme apparently, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Shenanigans, Fluff and Humor, Gen, HEAVILY IMPLIED OKAY, I'm going for that romantic comedy vibe okay, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Shipping, attempts at matchmaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23898070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamWings231/pseuds/KatcadeCascade
Summary: Blake and the others keep noticing certain events focused on Qrow, usually engaged by one man or the other. Small side glances, a brushing of hands, coffee treats and many more that can be listed as intimate or thoughtful or purposeful.The Vale kids decide to get involved in this.-A crow's love story, as narrated by a cat.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Qrow Branwen, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi/James Ironwood/Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 41
Kudos: 171





	1. Throwing Down the Gauntlet

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason this story needs to be told in Blake's perspective because I really like her and it's an excuse to use vocabulary/tone/whatever I don't normally use. 
> 
> That and this is fun!

Blake will admit, she’s a sucker for romance.

How could she not be?

In a world where morbid emotions attract monsters, where injustice breeds from hatred of culture and birth traits, something as simple and layered as love is beautiful and strong and can power people through their darkest moments but also bring them to their knees.

She should say she just learned this all from her books but honestly in the last year or so, Blake has certainly lived through some crazy shit.

But let’s not get into that right now.

Sure her tale begins with her people’s suffering, her parent’s pacifism, a poor boy’s spite, and her own frightful shadows. She could go write to great lengths on how the journey gained her treasured friends, bonds forged through fire, and how it lead them to the coldest place of the north.

That’s where this game begins.

Yes a game indeed or maybe a war by the sharpness in the Valkyrie’s eyes or the telltale song notes of glyphs charging up.

It began with a series of events that piqued the interest of the eight (and later on more) charges under the wings of Qrow Branwen.

The first thing they noticed took place on their very first night in Atlas, where one General James Ironwood hugged the scythe master. The two thought they were alone but the nieces back tracked to get their uncle.

While they made the wise decision to leave the men alone, the girls immediately blurted their findings to the rest of their friends.

Their reactions were of surprise and cooing but it only trigger their radars to look out for more of these moments. None of them could recall ever seeing Qrow be so vulnerable with anyone else. Granted they didn’t spend the most time with him but even Yang and Ruby were caught off guard.

This was their uncle so ultimately this was under Yang’s and Ruby’s discretion or wonderment.

That didn’t stop the rest of them from being curious to see what else will happen between Qrow and Ironwood.

Small and subtle were the ways of the General, lingering eyes or quietly inviting the huntsman into his office. Ruby’s sniper skills were used for observations like these. Her skills in stealth could’ve been better to muffle her cooing.

Things were going steady, slowly seeing the man underneath the steel. Maybe then the kids could decide to trust him with the truth from the Lamp. Not that Qrow’s compromised in anyway, but seeing this spark between them certainly helps the kids trust the General a little bit more.

James Ironwood appeared to be able to offer up his heart to Qrow.

So imagine their surprise when Clover Ebi entered the game.

There’s that word again: game.

It’s a little immature to describe it as so but Blake couldn’t think of any other word.

Blake and the others keep _noticing_ certain events focused on Qrow, usually engaged by one man or the other.

Small side glances, a brushing of hands, coffee treats and many more that can be listed as intimate or thoughtful or purposeful. Although, Clover’s flirting are rather forward. Most importantly, Qrow’s happiness is the growing outcome.

And pray tell what game is this? Where two men woo a common thread that is slowly becoming enamored by these actions?

A courting game.

Hands slam down on the kitchen table. “Everyone, place your bets!”

“We are _so_ not betting on this!” Weiss crossed her arms, perfectly poised and unmoved.

“Come on,” Nora whined, “There’s nothing else to do here.”

“Aside from doing our jobs and brainstorming how to save the world?”

“All I’m saying is that we need a break from all the seriousness and focus on Team Dad.”

On the couches, only Blake noticed the resident nieces share a glance. They don’t argue against their uncle’s title, instead they quirk their lips in a knowing look.

(Blake later understands their silent exchanges when a game changer occurs)

“Nora’s right,” Jaune agreed, “and I usually never want to say that.”

“Hey!”

“You’re the one who broke the coffee machine by trying to fix it,” Oscar pointed out. Behind him said device has a despairing groan.

Ruby follows up, “And then got the rest of us blaming each other for it.”

“Enough, enough,” the redhead shouted, “We’re getting off track!”

“We are not conspiring on Qrow’s love life!” Weiss proclaimed.

“She’s right,” Ren said with the composure of a sage, highlighted as he sipped his tea, “There’s no need to.”

Yang raised an eyebrow, both curious and surprised, “What do you mean?”

Everyone waited for their resident ninja to finish another long drink, for dramatic effect Blake must note.

Then simply enough, he answers, “Qrow would fall for the General.”

That was _clearly_ not the answer Nora wanted.

She’s a sputtering mess while next to her, Weiss holds her head high.

“Thank you, someone else sees my point,” the ex-heiress nods.

Sharpness in Jaune’s voice catches her off guard, “Your point? You think Ironwood’s gonna get with Qrow?”

“Is it not obvious?”

Nora butts in, a strange tension in her shoulders, “Sure yeah but look at Clover!”

Her team leader listed off, “They’re mission partners but also hanging around each off in their downtime.”

“Yes,” Nora nods enthusiastically, “Just like Jaune with Marrow.”

“H-hey wait-“

“You haven’t seen Qrow with James alone though.”

Again, everyone is quiet as they stare down their resident cute wizard boy.

Oscar squirms a little under the attention, backtracking, “Oh, um, I only mean um I would see them right before James tutors me? And Qrow would sometimes be there too and,” he sighs heavily, “honestly it’s like my aunt’s romance novels.”

Blake immediately guesses the classic tropes of longing, quiet vulnerability, trust and intimacy. She doesn’t voice her thoughts. No need since Weiss happily regales her own findings.

“Winter says that she’s never seen Ironwood so relaxed before. Sure she’s a little teed that it was Qrow’s doing but the results are still good.”

“But what about Qrow’s ‘results’ when he’s with Clover,” Nora argued.

Ruby does her little head shake, musing over her thoughts, “He is a lot calmer or relaxed.”

Nora cackles at the fuming Weiss, affronted at her girlfriend not on her side.

That’s rectified as Ruby taps her chin, scholarly and not noticing Weiss’ heat, “Although he is a lot more teasing around Ironwood.”

“See!” Weiss grins as if this is victory. Her current rival is unbothered.

“He’s the same with Clover,” Nora counters and honestly Weiss can’t possibly argue with that.

Too many times have the kids witness Qrow becoming a bumbling, blushing mess when Clover compliments him. There’s so much bi/gay tension there to even think of denying.

“Qrow must be taking his time then,” Blake voiced. “With both Ironwood and Clover, maybe he’s a bit overwhelmed.”

Next to her, Yang sighs, “Knowing him, he might not realize what’s going on unless someone tells him.”

“Or he’s aware of all of this happening and dismisses it as something that can’t actually happen to him,” Jaune painfully accurately describes as what is probably going on.

This type of denial of happiness, this consuming pit of numbness and pain, people who loved and lost and felt _guilty_ for even loving and losing need to be told they’re deserving of love.

Maybe Jaune’s speaking for himself or maybe Blake’s interpreting for her own experiences.

But one shared glance with the knight confirms her thoughts. Qrow must have talked to him too about this type of grief.

The blame and the guilt and the responsibility of losing someone, be it a person of goodness or of spite, it’s a heavy feeling that Blake, Jaune, Qrow and possible the others too have carry.

So while the huntsman tries to assure the two kids of their grievances, there hasn’t been an opportune time to ask how _he’s_ coping. As the young adults under his care, they all worry about him, especially his nieces. At first he was the mysteriously cool uncle as proclaimed by Ruby and later on the secretive and paranoid uncle explained by Yang but in their shared time together, each kid gotten to know the crow by their own definitions.

It’s like that little thing Blake does, associate a word with a person.

She told Sun about her girls, Purity, Defiance, and Strength.

Then there’s team JNPR, Tenacity for Jaune, Zestful for Nora, Ascendancy for Pyrrha and Acuity for Ren. It took some time but eventually Oscar became Perseverance.

As for Qrow, well, she jokingly thought Mother Hen but now she’s satisfied to call him Memory.

It’s mostly because of all the Muninn parallels but there is just so much history behind Qrow Branwen. Carried in the creak in his bones, dips in his scars, the grey of his feathery hair, the surprise in his laughs, like he’s relearning how it is to walk with ghosts and angels.

So yeah, Blake sometimes worries about him and then she and Weiss worry about Ruby and Yang getting worried too.

But maybe there’s no need to.

From the soft gazes he sets on James and Clover, maybe they’re the ones making sure their Team Dad/Uncle is doing okay.

Now if only Qrow’s love life can move to the next stage.

Their conversation during breakfast was more than enough as food for thought, analyzing everything they know of Qrow Branwen and how he interacts with two men in particular.

Early mission meetings are obviously designated Clover Flirting Time as they get to their seats.

“I wouldn’t mind having another match with you,” Clover said casually as if it didn’t take weeks of near begging for a one on one fight.

“Really? You enjoy falling on your ass that much, lucky charm?”

“Sure do,” Clover slides close, letting his hip press against Qrow’s. “But I like seeing you down on the mats just as much.”

That flirt was meant to be whispered, low and teasing and it definitely sends a blush down Qrow’s neck. It’s a real shame that Blake has an extra set of ears to hear this.

Then from the sight of Marrow almost choking on his coffee, he probably heard it too.

The dog faunus and the cat faunus exchange silent misery.

“Ooh, another match?” Nora, being her glorious self, pops right at Qrow’s side and the two men nearly jump. “Hah, that’s a bit boring by now.”

Clover raises a brow, slightly wary and challenged, “Boring?”

Nora nods her head as Ren-like as possible, “Yep, I mean, training doesn’t have to be combat does it?”

Qrow blinks at her, and so does her teammates because hey, this is Nora complaining about combat training. “Nora, you got something else in mind?”

This encouragement, openness and trust, Blake wouldn’t have noticed it before but Qrow has been putting a lot more faith in them since Argus. It’s really nice to have an adult take them seriously. Then again this is Qrow. He encouraged Yang and Jaune to start a prank war.

Their resident lightning in a bottle had a million volt grin, “Parkour and freerunning! We all saw the Ops jumping around in the mines and that time Qrow and Winter destroyed the campus.”

“Miss Valkyrie,” hissed the ice queen, “I advise you to refrain from telling that anecdote.”

“What, feeling sore since you lost?” Qrow grinned.

“I did not lose, Qrow,” she glared, “it was clearly a stalemate.”

“Wow, now I’m really curious,” Clover said.

“I’ll tell you all about it then,” Qrow winked, “like how I clearly would’ve won.”

Sliding next to Nora, Jaune added in, “There was a recording of it going around campus, like from the moment Qrow bushed back his bangs to the end where the General stopped the fight.”

To Blake, it’s a little odd to see Jaune gush about this since majority of them choose to ignore the usual mushiness of Clover Flirting Time. But then she notices the way Jaune subtly elbowed his teammate.

“Brush your bangs?” Clover’s focus on that little detail had him reach over to do said action, “Huh, you don’t look that intimidating like this.”

Like this, as they all observe, is Qrow blushing madly at the close contact and gentle action, the way Clover’s fingers glided through his dark hair like it’s water.

Oblivious to the two men, everyone else in the room saw Jaune and Nora fist bump each other. They don’t even hide their smugness. No they toss it over at _Weiss and Ren._

Ren is slightly alarmed. Their resident ice princess on the other hand is silently fuming.

Like Blake mentioned before, this is a game.

It may be petty, invasive, and a tad immoral.

And yet it has begun.


	2. Playing Cards

Like all great sports, there are teams and its motivations.

Okay so Blake is more privy to the works of literature and prose poetry, not sports but nonetheless there are heaps of compassion and effort.

This sort of reminds her of their food fight.

A nostalgic feeling rises within Blake’s consciousness, barely paying attention to the current debate going on. Instead of arguing over the breakfast table, they’re holed up in the RWBY dorm room. They have to be private about this game. After all they don’t want Qrow and his two wooers finding out what the kids are doing.

Take right now for instance.

Weiss and Nora are trying to recruit either niece onto one team or the other.

As the nieces of the game’s center focus, they hold key information on Qrow but also major influence upon his life.

Yet both Ruby and Yang stubbornly decline Weiss’ power point and Nora’s (Jaune’s) flashcards.

“Oh come on!” Weiss complains even though just last week she told Nora they shouldn’t conspire about Qrow’s love life. “You two must have an opinion on this, he’s your uncle.”

Ah so Weiss is playing the familial status card to provoke the nieces into the game.

“We do,” Yang cryptically said, “but I think it’s not the right moment to share.”

Ruby is about to agree with her sister but then she gets a face full of pouting ice princess.

Ah of course, Blake sighs, Weiss is playing the sadden girlfriend card. Oh how will Ruby resist this?

The red hooded girl has a moment of weakness, pulling Weiss onto her lap and spends a few seconds just cuddling on her bed. During that time, Nora swears, believing that she lost a great ally and gained a fierce foe.

Weiss appears to be at the top of the world to be in Ruby’s arms but then there’s a pat on her head as Ruby says, “Sorry Weiss but I’m still not joining Team Iron Feathers.” Ruby snipes away the glint in Nora’s eyes with, “Or Team Lucky Charms.”

While Nora and Weiss are both grumbling, Jaune shrugs, “Well, it kind of makes sense that you’re both impartial like Blake.”

Impartial, yes that’s the word Blake used.

It totally does not mean that she just wants to hang back and relax while everyone else gets too worked up about someone else’s romance. While it would be fun to join a team, bond more and relish in victory when the game ends, it would be even more satisfying to observe the entire thing as a whole.

That and while everyone is busy with obsessing with ‘Qrow and Ironwood’ or ‘Qrow and Clover’, Blake wants to check in with just Qrow himself and make sure he’s doing okay.

Also to make sure he’s not aware of what his kids are doing of course.

Blake may be ‘impartial’ but she’s not going to let the game end so fast.

Everyone loves a good slow burn.

Just look at Team Iron Feathers and Team Lucky Charms.

Weiss is still pouting at her unsuccessful attempt to getting anyone on her team to join her campaign. It must be a bit frustrating to be alone on this matter when she wants to brainstorm at four in the morning.

Then again, it’s a completely different frustration to JNOR’s. It’s split down the middle for them, Nora and Jaune against Ren and Oscar. Okay so it’s Nora and Jaune being more competitive because at this point they’re outnumbered, hence why they wanted to recruit Yang and/or Ruby.

Now remember, despite the competitive spirt, all of this is from a place of love.

So what if Jaune and Nora goad Qrow into showing off during training or Grimm hunts. It gets Clover to praise Qrow more and boosts the huntsman’s self-esteem and gets him to laugh more.

So what if Weiss and Ren offer to take over Qrow’s paper work, a learning experience for them, to get Qrow more time to spend with Ironwood in those rare moments he’s available.

So what if Oscar, so far the most scheming player, convinced Qrow to recite a poem of forlorn love during a history lesson taught by Ironwood. The General was enamored by the heavy emotions Qrow genuinely conveyed and Qrow also got lost in the words.

It’s all from a place of love, specifically that galaxy within Qrow’s chest. It’s a place guarded by fear and doubt, a ribcage of wariness and regrets.

This is kind of the reason why Blake chose neither team, because Blake understands all of these walls and locks and belief that fleeing is the only possible answer.

Blake wants to make sure that Qrow doesn’t have to run away.

She owes it to herself to see someone just as pained as she was (and sometimes still is) and tell them that they can choose to stay.

Maybe there are times where Qrow has ran away, or flew away, and he just looks so tired at odd ends of the day. Be it from withdrawal symptoms or anxiety or depression, Qrow has been through a lot through his life and Blake and the others only saw the surface of it when he cursed at Ozpin.

 _“No one wanted me,”_ he had said.

No one stayed with me, Blake read.

There’s a difference between running away from someone and running away from no one.

For someone, family or friends, they can hurt you and be hurt in return.

For no one, only you are being hurt and your fears just grow.

It’s realizations like these where Blake thoroughly believes her pessimism is real as the scar on her stomach.

“Well this didn’t work,” Nora flung the flashcards in the air much to everyone’s dismay.

The sudden flurry of colorful cards gained Blake’s complete attention, watching the flashy colors dance in the air.

A small giggle catches her focus and her eyes land on playful lilac eyes.

“Huh, I should’ve known colorful stuff would get you out of your head,” Yang said quietly, only for her ears.

Somewhere in the background, Weiss is complaining about Nora leaving a mess in the dorm while Jaune grumpily collects his written efforts. Blake only has Yang in her sights.

She can really see Qrow in her, especially in her eyes.

There’s pained lost and grief buried underneath sunshine. It’s a light meant to be blinding and distracting, to seek truth and answers. Initially Blake feared this spotlight would target her shadows, force a part of her soul to the world.

But that’s not how Yang’s light works. It feels more like the sun’s rays, warm and comforting and despite the laws of times, it is patient and waits.

Blake really appreciates the moments where Yang waits for her and the moments where Yang confronts her, like their conversation before the dance.

Yang is light and fire, combining together into strength.

“Yeah,” Blake said casually as her mind runs through thousands of details that make up Yang. “I just got lost in thought. If I join either side I may end up overthinking everything.”

“You’d take over Jaune’s strategist role or Weiss’ perfect planner thing in a minute.”

She tapped her chin, her eyes darting over to their bookshelf, her collection of romance novels, “Maybe, it might not be original though.”

“What, planning on a _Ninjas of Love_ remake?”

Ignoring the sudden heat in her face, Blake bats at Yang’s arm. Lowly seething, she whispers, “First off, no, none of them fit the ninja motif, secondly, _where did you learn that title?”_

Yang snorted, “We’ve been roommates for months, don’t think I’m not observant.”

…oh gods please don’t mean what Blake thinks she means.

At Blake’s silence, Yang winks.

Light and fire, Blake recalls. So much heat and steam from one gorgeous, strong partner.

“I suddenly remember I have to go to the library,” Blake excused as she ran - no, _walked away like any normal person does when confronted with awkward feelings._

Look any other time Blake would love to tease along Yang’s flirts but not in the same room as her sister and three other friends.

That and Blake really did make plans to meet Oscar at the library. So as she made her way down the long Atlas Academy hallways, she suppressed memories all of those Beacon nights she hoped Yang or the others didn’t notice Blake spending quality Me Time.

(Yang’s wink is looping in her head)

(Also that one night where Blake thinks _Yang_ was having Me Time)

(…oh gods)

The Atlas campus library is as grandeur as Beacon’s but instead of warm colors and dusty nooks and crannies, nearly every surface was polished white or Atlas standard holograms or projectors. Pristine, clean, and utterly rich is the aesthetic here. At least the books appear humble.

Blake learned early on that the more studious Atlas students booked the study rooms so the main table area held students listening to headphones while doing their work or drawing.

She easily finds Oscar at one table and he’s not alone.

Qrow and Ironwood sit across the boy as a star map has overflown the table.

“Hi,” she greets in the usual library volume, “I thought Oscar’s lessons would be over by now.”

Immediately, the General pushes up his sleeve to check his watch. “Oh you’re right Miss Belladonna. I should’ve been keeping track of time.”

“If this is your way of saying you’re having too much fun talking about astronomy then you gotta work on your table manners Jimmy.” Even though there’s a fondness in his tone, it doesn’t hide the little slump in Qrow’s shoulders.

There are only two people in the world who are able to get James away from the titles of general or headmaster. Oscar admitted to never have gone to a proper school, what with his farm life, and James immediately set up a school schedule for him.

At first it was going well but too many times did the boy answer a history question way too accurately or end up lecturing the teacher about the lesson. Honestly that’s hilarious but Oscar was a bit mortified when explaining how he got carried away and drew a fully scaled diorama of a Nevermore to a class he was supposed to sit quietly in.

So the easy solution was for James or Qrow to personally teach the farm boy.

The General of the Atlas military was both reluctant and eager to fill into his position as a teacher. Qrow was the one to finally convince him, offered to assist since he’s the one with the real teaching degree.

Yeah, apparently along with hunter licenses there was a sub category to fill in to supervise hunters in training in any subject they qualify for. Usually it’s meant for combat training but apparently Qrow has a degree in engineering and lectured in mythology.

Combine that with Ironwood’s knowledge in battle strategies (because military), history, and astronomy and then boom, Oscar as two teachers. 

Plus Blake suspects that both men are curious if any signs of Ozpin show up. She’s not sure what either man will do but she’s here to whisk Oscar away if anything bad happens.

So far these private lessons have been going good, Oscar’s learning far more than any fourteen year old would get. Also it looks like Qrow and James really enjoy teaching someone about stuff outside of fighting or war.

The hesitation in Ironwood’s sigh is evidence in his unwillingness to leave their table but he’s a grown man with a world to carry. He stands up and his smile begins to fade, “Sorry, I really must be going.”

“James, you said that you didn’t have any meetings today,” Oscar frowned with a trembling lip.

Oh so _this_ is the card Oscar plays.

“I don’t, not really. It isn’t a meeting but it still needs my attention…”

“Is this because I failed the last quiz? I did my best but I’m still kind of lost at Atlesian present and future verbs.”

“No of course not Oscar, that’s not it. I know learning a new language is always a struggle.”

“But I shouldn’t be struggling should I?” The genuine frustration in Oscar’s scrunched up forehead has Blake realizing this isn’t a card at all. “I mean, aren’t I supposed to be him?”

Before Blake could do anything, comfort or hug or whatever, Qrow moves over to Oscar’s side, kneeling to him and setting his hands on small shoulders. “You’re not him, not right now and even if you were, you’d still be making mistakes.”

“He’s right,” Blake agrees, taking the seat besides Oscar. “Remember that book I lent you?”

A shaky smile rose up, like he wants to laugh but his distraught mind will not allow it. “About the boy with two souls right? _The Pharaoh’s Puzzle Box._ ”

She nodded. Since meeting Oscar, she often thought back to her books, the ones about dueling minds in one vessel. It was a popular theme, the struggle of identity, especially in books as dark as _The Strange Case._

But she didn’t want Oscar to associate himself with a repressed doctor. So she pointed him in the direction of a book about a young boy befriending an ancient spirit. All in all, it has a much more light hearted tone about friendship and saving the world.

“They made mistakes, faced hardships, but always relied on their friends,” Blake said.

As Qrow squeezed his shoulder, Oscar faintly laughed, “Well put.”

“Huh, now I want to read that book,” Qrow said and sends her a grateful glance. He pats Oscar one last time before standing up. “You better kid?”

He nods and faces James again, “Sorry about that, I just um…”

“There is absolute no need to apologize,” Ironwood reassures. “If you want we can pick up where we left off?”

“I think I need a break, honestly,” Oscar admits, “I wouldn’t say no to lunch though.” He blinks expectedly at both men.

Ah yes, the real card Oscar plays.

Ironwood and Qrow share a silent exchange, little quirks in their facial expressions that Blake interprets as:

_‘Can we go to that corner bakery?’_

_‘We can’t give him too many sweets, Qrow.’_

_‘Come on, we can get that banana bread you like.’_

_‘Fine but you’re paying.’_

_‘Na uh, you’re the rich friend, Jimmy.’_

_‘Really?’_

This wordless conversation is interrupted by Oscar’s rumbling stomach.

He rubs the back of his neck in mild embarrassment, “Is it okay if we go to that bakery nearby? I heard about it from somewhere but I haven’t gotten the chance to explore it.”

“I think Ruby got those sweet and spicy cookies from that shop,” Blake added.

Okay so she doesn’t totally know if the bakery was in the men’s conversation. It was more out of her hunger than real knowledge of the two. Still though, Qrow had that same sugar crazed look in his eyes that belongs to Ruby.

Qrow nudges James with his shoulder, “Bakery it is then, yes?”

“Fine let’s go,” James surrendered and during their walk he stays close to Qrow’s side. Sometimes their hands would brush together.

Since the younger pair was walking ahead, Blake only noticed this because Oscar would ever so often glance back at them. A bright smile is on his face while his eyes held an old emotion.

Huh, maybe there is another member on Team Iron Feathers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess what, oscar is me, stressing over homework and learning life lessons from yugioh. look, it's on netflix and has a slamming theme song. 
> 
> anyway, yeh! obligatory bees flirting! worldbuilding! my ironqrow feels parenting oscar!
> 
> thanks for reading!


	3. Recruitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i technically qualify this chapter as a bonus

“So,” Nora began simply as if there’s not an explosion behind her, “I heard that you know Clover.”

“What’s it to you, Sparky?”

“Oh, you know,” the embodiment of thunder and lightning waved casually as somewhere above, her leader is screaming for his life, “Just wanted some info on him.”

“I think you’d have better luck just asking him,” Robyn, with mastery of words and evasion, aims her cross bow at the flying Grimm above. She releases a dart and a few seconds later, Jaune is freed and is attempting a landing strategy.

“Yeah but I want your dirt on him.” Nora proposed in her professional business voice, “You see, the gang and I are in bit of a pickle with a certain crow. Jaune and I kind of need some new information to play with.”

Okay, Blake has heard enough.

She’s only a few paces away from Mantle’s barrier where invading Grimm showed up. The available hunters were Team JNR and the bees but it’s no surprise that the Happy Huntresses invited their selves.

Blake is actually glad to see them. After researching into Robyn’s work as both hunter and politician, nearly all the Vale kids are impressed by her. She’s still not completely in favor of the General’s policies, leading her to be wary of the new Beacon hunters.

That absolutely doesn’t stop Nora from befriending them.

So eventually after thinly veiled threats to cracking jokes about the rich, Robyn and her huntresses decided that the Beacon hunters were tolerable.

This outcome is kind of expected, Blake had foreseen. Nora and Ruby were naturally friendly and with them Ren and Yang weren’t far behind. It helps that they came from humble beginnings. Or maybe Robyn instantly clued into Nora’s and Ren’s empathy of helping a dirt ridden Mantle child.

Anyway to sum up, Blake sees where Nora’s train of thought is heading. Thankfully Nora is doing this when majority of the Grimm have been defeated but still. Blake’s a little annoyed that Nora chooses to do this while everyone else is _still fighting!_

Jaune got snatched up by a Nevermore for crying out loud!

(Nora probably had fate in him surviving but Blake does not)

Jumping over a Boarbatusk, Blake shot down its spine and sprinted to where Nora and Robyn were taking cover.

“Nora,” Blake stressed, narrowly ducking under the grenade’s projectile range, “this isn’t the time.”

She maturely blows a raspberry.

“I’m with Mittens on this,” Robyn said but to placate Nora she adds in, “but I gotta say, you’re piqued my attention.”

That’s enough to satisfy Nora and instantly she launches her tiny body away to finish off the last Nevermore.

“Of course this is motivating her,” Blake muttered.

“What, scared of a little teamwork?” Robyn teased as if she’s not the one who always wary of them.

She shrugs, “This isn’t going to be a teamwork thing. This game has been pitting Nora and Weiss at each other’s throat.”

Not to mention the awkwardness between her and Ren. Blake can physically see how they’re using Qrow’s love life as some sort of placeholder for _their_ relationship mishaps.

Her cryptic words only further Robyn’s suspicion. “Okay _now_ I want in. Why does she need to know more about Cloves?”

Sighing, she admits with closed eyes, “It’s going to sound a little childish.”

“Hey,” a hand on Blake’s shoulder has her looking up to the kind face of Robyn, “You’re all still kids. It’s okay.”

She has the same soft look Qrow got at their graduation ceremony. It’s a mixture of pride and worry.

Blake cracks a sheepish grin as she explains the game.

The huntress blinks a few times.

Abruptly, a bout of heavy laughter spills from Robyn, so opposite of the composed politician she’s known as. 

“Aright,” someone calls out in dry sarcasm, “What broke Robyn?”

Since everyone is gathering round, the fight must be over and only the dying laughter is heard over throughout the tundra’s edge. Robyn had to be physically held up by Blake as she continues laughing.

“Serious, what happened?” May asks again. She goes over to poke Robyn’s arm.

“There’s a,” Robyn fails to speak coherently, “love triangle about,” a snicker interrupts and Robyn steadies herself up to finish, “about Five o’clock Shadow!”

“Well he is good looking,” Fiona said.

That gets Robyn out of her stupor. She blinks at the lamb faunus and asks, “Do you have a thing for bird people?”

Fiona rolls her eyes.

“Huh,” Yang strides up to Blake’s side, grinning, “I didn’t think you’d be the one to tattle.”

“I didn’t bring it up,” Blake points to the guilty party, “She did.”

“Nora,” Ren scolds.

“Don’t Nora me. Look,” Nora gestures to Jaune, looking a little winded from the fight, “we are outnumbered. Yang and Ruby said no so we’re recruiting elsewhere.”

May raises her hand, “I’m allergic to recruitment speeches.”

“It’s not for the military,” Jaune managed to say, suppressing the urge to vomit after being tossed in the sky. “Nora and I think Clover’s a better match for Qrow.”

Joanna crosses her arms, questioning lightly, “Opposed with whom?”

“Our dear General Ironwood,” Robyn laughed, pretending to wipe a tear. “Oh boy, Qrow must be one helluva guy to get those two!”

Yang narrowed her eyes, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing bad, Fisticuffs, Clover can be real piece of military work but not a complete uptight ass so that must have gotten your uncle’s attention. That and Cloves can get real gun hoe about romance, cried during our old movie nights.” She trailed off, remembering her friend but then quickly shrugged it off, “I just know the General’s heart is gonna break when Fish Sticks gets his bird.”

“Poor guy,” May bemoaned, dripping with sarcasm. She shakes her head in mocking lament, “He won’t know what’ll hit him.”

“So you’re saying you’re on our team?” Nora grinned, victory in her eyes.

The blue haired huntress gave her a thumb’s up while her leader smirked, “I’m looking forward to whatever you and Lancelot plan, Sparky.”

“Hell yeah!”

Ren, the opposite of that exclaim, is still frowning, “Even with so many people, it’s still only Qrow’s feelings…”

_Yes! That! Sound reason to stop this game!_

“…and they’ll lead to the General.”

Blake expected more from you Ren. She suppresses the urge to smack her forehead.

Folding her arms, Fiona analyzes Ren, “You sound very confident, why so?”

From the handful of times Blake talked to her, Fiona is very, very smart. She’s the intelligence of the huntresses and Blake only figured this out when she realized that Fiona’s been memorizing all the alternating truck supply routes.

Collecting data just as effective as her semblance, Fiona wants to know everyone’s stances starting with Ren, the only present member of Team Iron Feathers. As long as he doesn’t accidentally say something that’ll incriminate the General, this should be fine.

“They’ve been friends for a long time,” Ren says like it is basic knowledge. “That builds up a very strong bond where they depend and trust on each other. A relationship built like that is important.”

Blake, as subtly as possible, looks at Nora.

Yeah, she’s stunned.

Nodding approvingly, Joanna decides, “Sounds reasonable to me.”

At first Blake saw more Yang-ness in Joanna with a fair ratio of Ren-ness. Joanna once walked up to Yang and they had a staring contest. It ended with them just nodding silently and carried out whatever was happening that day.

“Wait hold up,” May stares in horror at her two teammates, “you’re supporting the General?”

“Must be a first,” Jaune shrugs.

An undignified snort from May has the blond grinning at her.

May and Jaune, now that’s a combination that’ll be super effective against Marrow.

“I just think Ren has a good point,” Fiona said almost challenging Robyn.

The politician has lost her famous composure and grit to be flabbergasted at this betrayal.

Leaning in, Blake discreetly reminds her, “I did say this game got people at each other’s throat.”

And indeed it does as it took one simple game of love to divide the Happy Huntresses.

So with that, Blake thought this would be the end of all this recruitment stuff.

The next day, Vine enters their lounge room carrying a tea tray. He serves his three mugs to Weiss, Ren and Oscar.

“I have decided to be on your side.”

Nora snaps at Ren, “You recruited people too?!”

It makes sense that Jaune and Nora had already confronted the Ace Ops. They’re Clover’s team and yet they established that they’re only mere acquaintances.

Blake can see their perspective. She once saw Weiss as just a teammate to keep at arm’s length but that changed. For the elite Atlas hunters, teams could be a whole different meaning, something professional or temporary.

Yet Marrow instantly joined Team Lucky Charms. He clearly looks up to Clover and also grew to the family dynamics in Beacon kids. Elm wasn’t too far behind, claiming to be Clover’s best man at the wedding. Harriet shrugged and took her time staying out of it.

And then she saw how flustered Clover got when Jaune set up training at the indoor pool. The speedster was relentless in teasing her captain when he fell into the water after seeing Qrow in swimwear. This was apparently the reason behind Elm’s and Marrow’s involvement as well. Maybe it’s their way of bonding with Clover outside of work.

That left Vine.

Blake thought him as the most logical and methodical of the professionals. She didn’t think he’ll join in the festivities honestly.

“We’re happy to have you,” Weiss lifted her cup as a toast of good faith and victory.

Over on the couches, Nora grilled to her operative member, “I thought you said Vine would be impartial!”

The dog faunus shrugged, “I didn’t think he’d be passionate enough for this.”

“Contrary to that,” Vine said, “I have bouts of passion.”

“Really?” Marrow scoffed, “So why do you even care about Qrow ending up with the General and not Clover?”

“I’ve only seen the General laugh once,” began the operative, speaking with sagely gravity Ren dreams of having. “I always deemed him as calculative but also tremendously lonely. Branwen’s charisma transforms the General into something else entirely.”

Oscar holds up his cup, “I’ll drink to that.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Uncle Qrow,” Ruby shook her head, both disapproving and amused.

“Huh,” Marrow relaxed back into the couch cushions, squished next to Jaune, “Well that’s a better reason than Harriet’s.”

“What’s her motivation?” asked Ren.

“She believes that if either leader in the chain of the command,” Vine stifles internally of his word choice for a pause and continues, “ _consummates_ , they will have a better peace of mind.”

“…that was so, _so_ not what Hare said,” Marrow strains to say under the immense about of exasperation on listening to what Vine just said.

No one spoke for a good few moments before Ruby asked, “What was that C word you used?”

“It means-“

“PENNY NO!”

The Protector of Mantle had her mouth posed and ready to inform her friend about the definition, her eyes darting between the sisters. Here at their table, Blake has a front row seat of Yang’s dramatic yelling, Ruby’s sheer confusion, and Penny innocently wanting to be helpful.

Yeah, Blake is content with being impartial.

Ruby grumped at her elder, “Hey, I can handle it!”

“Can you little sister?”

“I sure can!”

They do that classic staring contest between siblings. As an only child, Blake is thoroughly impressed with this level of unblinking.

“Alright,” Yang finally said. She waved off all her tension and casually propped her elbow on the table. Settling her chin in her hand, she insists, “Tell her, Penny.”

(Weiss immediately covers Oscar’s ears)

Penny tells Ruby the factual definition of consummate.

“… _ewewewewewewgrossgrossgrossgross-“_

“Yeah, so Harriet thought that it’ll be easier to get Clover to loosen up rather than the General,” Marrow unnecessarily elaborates. “She’s probably right.”

“Wow, nice to know why you like our uncle,” Yang snorted.

“This part is just a bonus,” Marrow explained and said seriously, “I’ve never seen Clover so happy before.”

“That’s mostly because we don’t interact with him outside of missions,” Vine said.

“Well it’s different now, right?”

None of them know what the Ace Ops were like before they got to Atlas. Everything they learned was mostly hearsay, including their own claims to not being friends but that’s been rectified. Sure they’re a little stiff to each other but it took one scheme planned by Jaune to get the three ops to rope Clover onto a surprise dinner with Qrow.

Since then, the Ace Ops actually started acting like friends.

Huh, maybe this game wasn’t as silly as Blake thought. 

“Weiss, I think you can stop shielding Oscar,” Blake calls over Ruby’s continuous mantra of disgust.

_“-grossgrossgrossgrossgross-“_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my important notes of this fic
> 
> Team Lucky Charms: Jaune, Marrow, Nora, Elm, Harriet, May, Robyn
> 
> Team Iron Feathers: Weiss, Oscar, Ren, Penny, Fiona, Joanna, Vine, Ozpin
> 
> thanks for reading!


	4. Fantasy of an Outcast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Blake actually talks to Qrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is my favorite chapter

Blake actually had fantasied traveling to Atlas.

Of course she’s aware of its general discrimination and strict politics and the sheer amount of coldness and wealth. It’s bragged and mocked by the mouths of moths. Atlas became too important, too forceful, in its relation to the other kingdoms. They provided the dust mines and technology and soldiers, all in a show of its power and reliance.

It also displayed ignorance and cruelty.

As Atlas shines, Mantle dulls. The imbalance of resources and support is truly appalling the moment Blake and the others arrived. It’s exactly as Blake had feared. The economic burdens and the harsh labor laws upon the faunus miners confirmed the bitter rumors within her community. A place so far north must have chilled the hearts of mankind.

The near freezing temperatures make Blake homesick, trying to find the tropical rays of pinks in the Atlas mornings.

As she watches the early hours of her off day tick away, Blake curls into a ball on a bench, tucking her knees close. There were countless of courtyard overview points of the academy, to peer at the city life in an almost birds’ eye view.

If Blake was any other person she’d be impressed by the massive amount of buildings. Each structure is competing in size and prowess because everything about Atlas is about business and advancement.

Atlas is the kingdom of technology and dust crystals.

Atlas is the prison of the lowly under crust of burdened families.

Atlas is what brought Ilia to the White Fang.

The chameleon faunus was right, walking through Atlas Academy did feel like a fairy tale. Its huge ivory towers, dancing lights of the nighttime lanterns, and feeling so small and special at the same time must have wowed Ilia so much.

But this strained glass portrait of this image is fractured.

A sharp crack like a whip upon a slaver, another chip off like a broken tooth of an insubordinate, all of these acts of violence and decimation broke when Ilia heard her friends snicker over the deaths of her people, her family.

Blake had fantasied about traveling to Atlas the moment Ilia told her the reason she joined the White Fang.

She didn’t know what she’d do other than place a marker in the mines where the miners died.

On her first ever mission as a licensed huntress, Blake realized too late where she arrived. There was no time to honor the dead out loud, to say a prayer or something with the heaviness in her heart.

The best she could do were to carry out her mission. She hopes that’s enough to bring ghosts to peace, to see someone like her and Marrow making a change in Atlas.

Ilia knew Blake was heading to Atlas. She’d hug her goodbye knowing what Blake will face here.

…What she already _has_ faced here.

It always happens when there’s missions needed in Mantle or those rare trips to the Atlas city. As the senior operative, Marrow pulled Blake aside and warned her of what to expect.

The staring and pointing is something she’s impervious to, built up a barrier for that since childhood. The insults coated in glamor or backhanded laughs were new though. Nothing got physical at least. Her legality was likely her saving grace and prevented any intolerable citizen to back off.

It all still hurts though. These are the people Blake vows to protect. They’re all a lesser evil compared to Salem but are still just as harmful.

The lost fable still lingers in Blake’s dreams, lost in Jinn’s narration.

A sharp urge to laugh has Blake bowing her head to the rising the sun.

The gods that abandoned Remnant, who created and punished Salem, they were crowed with antlers and horns.

Faunus gods, the Brothers Grimm, _hah take that, humans._

Hah, it shouldn’t be funny. Ironic yes, like telling a bigot that they’re wrong about the skin tone of a god, but funny only in a weird and unexpected bittersweet way.

Normally she wouldn’t laugh at something like that but after yesterday’s trip to Mantle, well Blake lets her tension roll into a few low chuckles. It’s an echo of an old shadow, a thing inside of her that wants _satisfaction_ for just this tiny little thing.

If that makes Blake bad then she’ll just keep her thoughts to herself.

“Are you okay Blake?”

Any hint of dark laughter is sucked back into her throat. She can’t undo the evidence even though she schools her face into neutrality.

It doesn’t matter in the end because no lie she can come up with can trick Qrow Branwen. She learns that this man just has a sixth sense when it comes to his kids getting low in spirits.

“At the moment,” she idly plays with the hair tickling her chin, “not really, just thinking.”

“Yeah, you tend to do that a lot kiddo, especially when you’re upset.” Qrow takes a seat on the bench, creaking wood a bit. She’s so happy there’s wooden structures around here, takes away the high class of this place.

“I needed some air,” she mumbled. There’s a half thought of saying she wants to be alone but look at where her solitude has lead her.

She wanted to laugh that people are wrong about the most infamous gods, that the faunus were somehow more connected to godhood than any mere human could be.

…was she always this angry when she ran away from her parents?

(Did this anger belong to her or to _him?_ )

“Yeah,” Qrow laughed, “Atlas can be real crappy.”

Blake nearly snaps her neck to see the tail end of that noise, the very thing she regretted doing. Instead she sees thin pressed lips as red eyes watch the clouds drift over the city below.

“I never liked Atlas for its people, well James is an exception. Maybe even Winter but don’t tell her that. As for everyone else,” he trailed off to scowl. That’s more than enough as an answer.

She shifted a bit, placing her feet back on the ground. It felt a bit ridiculous to be seated and curled in, something that Ruby or Nora would do besides Qrow during game night. Not Blake though, this is one of those rare talks that were both serious and vulnerable.

Opening up to Qrow was surprisingly easy and considering the hints in his past that he’s willing to share, Blake understands why.

“The White Fang, the splitter cell part, they wore masks of Grimm,” she said and ignored the twitch in Qrow’s face. “Here it’s like everyone in Atlas is wearing a mask of what they think is perfection.”

The huntsman leans back, loosening his posture in a show of lax. He glances at her, “Did Weiss wear a mask?”

Pondering, Blake recalls, “No, I believed her rudeness was natural.”

She gains a real laugh from Qrow, a snort too similar to Yang as well. “Oh, I get that. Jimmy was the same, mistook his pride as arrogance.”

“Those kind of go hand in hand.”

“Yeah, but Jim is different, I eventually learned.”

It might be a trick of the light but somehow the red hue in his eyes goes soft.

Oh no, Blake is supposed to be impartial, wasn’t she?

(But she’s also allowed to have fun too)

She flicks her ears around, finding no one else nearby as she asks, “What about Clover?”

Qrow stares at her oddly, a few seconds longer she would’ve panic, but then he perks up with realization, “Oh! No, he’s actually from Mantle.”

Now it’s Blake’s turn to be surprised, “Wow, I would have never guessed.”

“Really?” Qrow smirks, “I thought you’d be the master of disguises at first appearances.”

The cat faunus rolls her eyes. She had gotten these innocent jokes from her friends already, each one pointing out a clue during their Beacon days that made sense with present day knowledge.

“Well Clover wasn’t really disguising anything, we just assumed.” A dark thing slither back up her throat as she said, “I had to use a bow. I just… needed to.”

There was a tense silence, at least that’s how Blake feels. She hasn’t spoken about this thing in a while. It was always about her reason to no longer hide now that she discarded the bow. She no longer needs it and she wants to move on and feel like herself or figure out what else of her there is to discover.

It was unspoken and assumed that the reason she wore a bow in the first place was due to shame or secrecy or protection. To hide her truest self was for the best, a young Blake had thought, maybe then she won’t feel like an outcast.

Qrow pulls her out of her thoughts by saying, “On my first day at Beacon, I wore a skirt.”

“Okay and?”

“…Yang told you this already, didn’t she?”

“Yep.”

Qrow groaned, rubbing a hand over this face, “Anyway! Do you know why I wore a skirt?”

“Because you got tricked?”

“I wasn’t tricked,” he childishly defended. She raises an eyebrow. Qrow sighs and admits, “Okay yeah I was kind of tricked but only because I didn’t really know about the whole gendered clothes thing and well, I wanted to fit in.”

“Oh,” Blake realized.

“I grew up outside of the usual kingdom lifestyle so the moment I set foot in Beacon I was so new and I didn’t want to be fresh meat,” he said with a bitterness she can relate to.

Quietly, Blake said, “You didn’t want to be targeted for being different.”

He nods, somber but amused grin slips on, “Just my luck that I met Tai though. The skirt thing did get me a _lot_ of attention, some good, some not so good.”

“I can imagine.”

“Yeah,” he trailed off, lost in those memories.

Blake always fantasied about attending Beacon, planned it all out as an escape away from the White Fang, from Adam. But there’s a difference between fantasying and living, actually going to Beacon changed everything in her life.

Ruby, Weiss, Yang, she didn’t know they would become so important to her.

So to hear about Qrow’s own initial thoughts, it all sounds too familiar, too similar, and too… something else that she wanted to question him about ever since she learned about his shapeshifting.

Blake eyes the feathers hidden in those dark grey locks. Tiny black down feathers would always get stuck to the couch pillows where Qrow naps.

“Do you think yourself as a faunus?”

The question surprised the both of them.

Qrow watched her carefully, not guarded or skeptical. He did shift around uncomfortably, “Not really, no. Why do you ask?”

“Some faunus are able to hide their traits, better than most, but there’s always something that gives it away.” Like how Ilia’s color spectrum correlates with her emotions or, as she points out aloud, “I noticed your feathers.”

“Ah, right that,” he mumbled, lightly carding fingers through his hair. A magical leak he had explained once. “Actually sometimes I catch myself speaking avian too. Like, full on caws and trills.”

“I’ve heard about, something about our vocal chords being different.”

Her mom told her stories about the vast dialect of the faunus. It’s a whole new set of language mapping, from the pool of animal species. Songs only sung by canine or avian or reptilian tongues. 

“It doesn’t make me a natural faunus though,” Qrow said like he’s assuring her, like this is an answer he expects she wants. “It just makes me something else.”

“Still, it sounds like your one of us,” she assures gently.

The man stares at her like he wasn’t expecting to be accepted so easily. His case is different, yes, but his experience is relatable too. A need to hide a part of yourself from the world, not knowing if there’s a person out there who would not use that secret against you.

Blake finds herself musing, “You know a lot about fairytales, do you know any old faunus tales.”

He nods, “A few. They’re kind of hard to find.”

Hearing that has Blake curling her ears. She knows that. Beacon has one whole section dedicated for faunus history. Atlas barely has a bookshelf for it.

“I guess most of them aren’t published,” she said. An old memory of a campfire with her parents has her smiling, “The best ones are spoken out loud. My dad would make shadow puppets to spook me.”

“Yeah, the tribe did stuff like that too,” Qrow shares with a faint tone, a strange flicker in his eyes. Maybe he’s surprised to find something good in his childhood.

“Do you want to learn more about faunus lore?” She asks before she could reconsider. Actually there wasn’t any regret in asking. She’s more of a writer than a storyteller but both have the urge to create a world through words.

Qrow blinks at her and then slowly a delighted smile blooms, “Yeah, I’d like that. You should invite the others too.”

Nodding, she’s about to ask if there’s any good campfire pits around here when a scroll pings.

The uncle checks his scroll and reads out, “It’s Yang, says there’s a surprise at the hanger bay.” He stands up and walks a few paces but stops, tilts his head at her, “You coming or what?”

This is the typical blunt invitation that people like Qrow and Yang will throw at her, like she’s already accepted into their lives. She gets off the bench and follows him.

The academy’s airship docking bay is windier than the courtyard what with all the air turbulence of departing and arriving Mantas. The furthest hanger bay has a docked ship where General Ironwood, Captain Ebi, Ruby and Yang are greeting someone exiting the ship.

Blake’s surprised to recognize the blonde hair in a neat bun.

“Is that Professor Goodwitch?” She asks, thinking her eyes need to be checked as they continue walking the long path.

“Oh thank gods,” Qrow muttered under his breath, “a capable adult.”

She elbows him like what she does with Yang, “You’re capable too.”

He chuckles out the tiniest of “Thanks.”

They’re about halfway there when a second blond runs out the ship’s walkway, immediately launching himself at the sisters. Blake is only a step past Qrow to realize that the huntsman froze.

Ruby and Yang untangle the hug for the younger to point at Blake and Qrow, well specifically Qrow.

The moment the blond man locked eyes with Qrow, he too froze up but then a blinding smile is released as he yells, “Qrow!”

He begins to run at them while Qrow hasn’t moved at all, holding his breath.

Blake recognizes the stillness in Qrow, something that happened to her when she saw Yang in Haven. It’s both shock and awe and wondering if they deserve this.

So she does something similar to Sun’s encouragement. She pushes Qrow.

The movement kick starts his urge to run, to close the distance between him and someone very important to his life as he shouts back, “Tai!”

They collide in the middle, an audible smack as they wrap their arms around each other. Blake makes her way over to the rest of their audience as Qrow gets spun around. It’s such a new sight, to see Qrow actually laugh so loud and get picked up by his waist and Tai twirls them in circles.

She reaches the nieces finally and sees a look in their eyes that’s been in their friends for the past few weeks, excitement and success. Glynda too looks satisfied with this all.

Yang winks at her, knowingly or flirting, it doesn’t matter.

As Qrow and Tai are lost in their joyful reunion, Blake sees a fazed expression on the two other men. Both are in awe at the image of a laughing crow, free of stress and pain.

Blake isn’t a mind reader but she interprets this as _I want Qrow to hug me like that._

Meanwhile the two sisters bump fists as they watch their dad hug Qrow. Then Tai tosses his teammate into the air and easily catches him like they’ve done this countless of times.

Taiyang Xiao Long, original teammate and husband material. 

Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folks, a new player has entered the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Ending
> 
> Tai: Qrow! *runs to him*  
> Qrow: Tai! *runs to him*  
> Tai: Qrooooow!!!! *increasingly getting mad*  
> Qrow: Tai? *slowing running down*  
> Tai: QROW!!!! *rage mode activated*  
> Qrow: uh oh *starts running away*
> 
> -
> 
> yall called it, you know who you are
> 
> OF COURSE I BROUGHT IN TAI 
> 
> also I really like drawing in parallels between Qrow and Blake and my headcanons about all the faunus stuff too
> 
> THANKS FOR READING


	5. Hand Holding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Tai Qian Qrow: Ruby, Yang

Blake honestly doesn’t know what to think when Taiyang invites her and Weiss to a family lunch.

She expected the four family members to be tightly knit, and they are, but she didn’t think she and Weiss would be joining them so fast.

It’s been three days since the arrival of Glynda and Tai.

Tactically, this is great. Glynda knows how James works, easily points out whatever issues there are in his plans that need more support, be it a complication with Grimm, civilians, or architecture design.

After years of repairing buildings, a fair amount of that knowledge belongs to her research into architectural design and history.

For Tai, he provides combat training of course but also an update of the outside world. Apparently other Beacon and Signal teachers have traveled to the other kingdoms in needs of work and support.

A post Fall of Beacon world is a bit sadder than Blake thought. Other kingdoms are scared, protective of its own land ever since the last broadcast of the Vytle Festival. It doesn’t help when news about the Haven Headmaster’s death is spread around.

So things have been picking up here in Atlas, the Amity Project is progressing and thankfully Qrow and Glynda bulled Ironwood to get some rest and also send some much needed resources down to Mantle.

A lot can happen in a few days.

For example the ensuing game between the Vale kids over who should Qrow be in a romantic relationship with. The newest team has certainly thrown the other two into a loop.

Despites the best efforts of Weiss, Ren, Jaune, Nora, and Oscar, neither Ironwood nor Clover had the time to spend with Qrow because he’s been occupied with Tai.

Ruby and Yang assured that once the two are done catching up, _maybe_ Qrow will have enough attention to spare to the other suitors.

Team JNOR is impressed with the nieces putting their chips into the long haul. Weiss on the other hand is a bit miffed that she is truly the only one in their team who’s in support for the General.

Blake still chooses to be impartial.

Honestly that has to be the best decision she’s made since she’s the only one not obsessed with this game. So she’s not internally conflicted as Weiss is during this lunch with the Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen family.

They end up in a tea shop in the more financially stable parts of Mantle. Apparently it was Qrow who picked the location out because Clover had taken him here before.

The Jasmine Dragon is an old Mistral style restaurant famous for spice teas and tiny sweets, a nice homey feeling that pushes away the cold weather.

Almost effortlessly, the sisters ramble to their dad about their missions so far and how they are indeed the finest hunters ever. It’s really charming to see Yang be as animated and jovial, on par with Ruby’s enthusiasm as they recount the latest Grimm hunt.

Then Tai nods over to her and Weiss, “So I’ve heard a lot about you two.”

A weird fluttering of guilt and appreciation stirs up inside of Blake, crashing with the flavor of oolong tea. Of course the daughters are the type to send letters home. They actually kept in contact with their family unlike Blake and Weiss.

“I hope nothing was exaggerated or embellished,” Weiss said calmly. She must be used to table talk, raised into it during her childhood.

That’s when Tai gets that Dad Look, that smile that’s a degree away from full on teasing with a goofy prideful glint in his eyes. Well maybe this is just a Parent Look since this was the same energy Blake’s mom had when she brought Sun home.

“Maybe a little bit. There was a full paragraph about how awesome you.”

 _“Dad,”_ Ruby hissed and then there’s a thump under the table.

A cringed wince from Qrow has him muttered, “Wrong foot, Rubes.”

“Oops. Sorry.”

As far as family lunches go, Blake should’ve known this one would be full of warmth and laughter. Like with Qrow, there’s a lot of Taiyang recognized in the two daughters. Yang’s type of humor is an obvious trait as she and her dad went back and forth on tea puns.

(No, Blake will not be requoting them)

For Ruby it was a bit hard to spy what with her seated next to Qrow. Black and red color pallet aside, Ruby had a bit more of Qrow’s wit combined with this radiant cheer she’s known for.

It didn’t match up with Tai’s aged smiles, tampered down with creaked bones and worn out hands.

Seeing the four of them felt right but there’s that squirming little urge to note that someone is missing from this picture. Blake keeps this thought quiet, not daring to think about a grief she doesn’t know.

( _“Summer wasn’t the first love he lost, she was the second. The first… was my mom.”_ )

Taiyang is a father, a widow, and a comedian who believe puns are superior jokes. He is also Qrow’s oldest friend, trumping the logic Ren had for Ironwood, and easily gets the huntsman to relax within seconds compared to Clover’s minutes.

Okay maybe taking note on these details is a little childish. Blake’s pretty sure Weiss has been sizing Tai up while also keeping in mind that this is her _girlfriend’s father._

Blake idly wonders how she should feel. This is her partner’s father after all. Where she stands with Yang is still a little unspoken. Their usual banter has returned but occasionally the familiar shadows of guilt and shame creep up on her.

They’re going to be okay, Yang and Blake had told each other, a promise that will be held.

Underneath the table, Blake takes Yang’s left hand in hers.

Instantly Yang locks eyes on her. Whatever conversation she was a part of goes on without her as a surprised small tug onto her lips. It’s not often Yang is caught off guard, the one thing she prides on during a fight.

She doesn’t know why but that suddenly makes Blake feel bold.

Blake moves their clasped hands on the table and while no one makes a comment, Ruby still nonstop about the weapon upgrades, the father on Yang’s other side definitely spots the movement.

To ease the nervous butterflies in her stomach, Blake quickly sips her tea.

“So have you all explored Atlas?” Tai asked them.

“Ironwood has been giving us a lot more free days lately,” Ruby mumbled around a cookie, “Weiss took us to her favorite childhood places.”

Yang is clicked back into the topic, as if she wasn’t in a daze, “I was expecting her to drag us to an opera house but I’m happy to be wrong. This girl is a real menace in the ice rink.”

The ice girl in question forewarns, “And before you say anything, your daughter has already made every ice pun in existence.”

“Don’t forget falling down laughing at her own jokes,” Blake included, tempted to see Yang fluster.

Instead she sticks her tongue out.

Despite the how his eldest behaves, Tai places a hand over his heart, “I’m so proud of you.”

Besides him, Qrow chuckles, “I hate your priorities.”

“Yeah well I hate your attitude.”

“Liar, my attitude is the highlight of your day. You traveled across the globe just for it, I bet.”

Qrow grins widely, as if he’s slipping back into old, comfortable habits of teasing his teammate. It’s what been hiding each time he talks to Clover. The captain can coax this impish character all he wants but there is always some barrier held up.

Here it’s nearly gone. The wariness is absent but Blake sees an apprehension in his eyes. It’s that same look he always has, something she too had, when expecting something bad to happen.

And it happens.

Tai folds his hands in his lap, fully facing Qrow as he admits, “I should’ve left Patch with you. Maybe then you all wouldn’t have been through so much pain.”

An apology like this shouldn’t be so clean. He must have thought about this the moment Yang, no Ruby, left their little island.

In his own apologetic tone, Qrow says, “Tai, I’m always going to get hurt.”

He says it like it’s a given, that he’ll take the blunt force of pain before it reaches the rest of them. Blake never pictured Qrow as the self-sacrificing type. She should have, she just didn’t want to connect the dots.

Just like Tai, Qrow also lost their important loves. Half of their team is not here. Instead two daughters who uncannily resemble them sit next to Qrow and Tai.

(Stark white fades into ruby red)

Tai reaches over, carefully taking Qrow’s hand. His fingers glide over the many rings adoring the man. “But you shouldn’t have been alone. I’m your teammate Qrow. I should’ve been with you.”

“It’s okay,” he reassures, his red eyes reaching blue ones, “I don’t blame you.”

Weirdly enough, Blake doesn’t think she or Weiss are invading this intimacy. Qrow is naturally a private person, stubborn to keep his thoughts out of sight and out of mind when not needed. He’ll open up eventually but after hours of denying that he’s not feeling alright.

Here though, with Tai, Qrow loses that final barrier. The words must have been lodged in his head for far too long. He could finally give the words to the person who needs them the most.

Tai looks equally as unguarded, “Alright but as long as you don’t blame yourself too.”

Verbally, there’s no answer but Blake catches how Qrow squeezes their hands.

“So,” Ruby drawls out for a few seconds, “everything good?”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” her dad smiled, “we’re good.”

Blake realizes why Tai and Qrow had this conversation in front of them, to show their daughters that they all are going to be alright. It’s that same reassuring display her parents do in those rare moments they argue and make up.

With that in mind, Blake looks over to Weiss, someone who probably hasn’t ever seen this between two parental figures. Two people struggling and trying hard to make thing work between them.

It’s times like this where Weiss has a far off look that shows how lonely she really was. 

Then with a grace of a seasoned huntsman, Tai shifts the atmosphere back into its pleasant, friendly air, rattling about some anecdote of the girls’ childhood. Chances are, Tai probably had a lot of practice on diverting the attention span of a dolt, a firecracker, and a bird so he’s successful.

The difference between lunch between friends and lunch with parental figures is that intense feeling of acting on your best behavior but that’s totally not the case for Ruby and Yang. This family is plain goofy with the puns and the inside jokes and the way they just interact is just so warm.

It kind of makes Blake homesick as she finishes her tea.

Everything gets wrapped up as orderly as possible, meaning Team RWBY sans Blake fought for the bill.

See, there is logistics in being impartial. That and Weiss can be a control freak and absolutely demands to pay for all of their meals with the money she earned for herself. Of course that’s when Ruby and Yang use that for their own motivations, likely a milestone to show off to their dad and uncle.

Speaking of them, they also remain silent observers as Yang and Weiss passively aggressively hand their credit cards to the waiter. Ruby, being the leader, got them to settle for splitting the bill and still wanting to treat them, says she’ll treat everyone to that crepe shop down the lane.

When they leave the teashop, the redhead is practically dragging Qrow down the sidewalk with Yang right at their heels.

That leaves Tai with his daughters’ partners, walking a steady pace.

“Hey,” he gives Blake and Weiss a measured look, open and patient, “I might just be their father but I care about you both as well.”

Blake should’ve seen this welcomed love coming. It reminds her all too well of when Yang and Ruby introduced their selves, eager for friends and adventure.

Weiss on the other hand is a tad flustered, “Thank you sir, we really appreciated that.”

“Oh please don’t sir me,” Tai waved off. From that alone, he must have known enough about Weiss’ background to slowly get her familiar to a currently-healthily-coping and loving father figure.

“Right, of course,” she nods a little hastily.

Tai turns to Blake, waiting for some sort of answer to gauge off of. For all of his strength and power, his fighting style actually leans more towards reactions, acting second against an opponent or following someone else’s lead. 

“You know, Qrow said something similar,” Blake shared.

“Did he now?”

“Yeah, so we told him that we care about him just as much.”

“He squawked like a bird, didn’t he?”

“Most definitely,” Weiss confirms.

“Some things never change,” The man laughs. “So this is your way of saying you care about me.”

Blake nods, “It’s really nice to have you here.” Up ahead, they see Ruby shouting at them to catch up already. “You are already making things better.”

Up close, only she and Weiss can see the small wetness in the corners of Tai’s eyes. “I’m glad to be here too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FINALS WEEK, AVATARS GONNA BE ON NETFLIX, SO WILL SHE RA FINAL SEASON, MY FRIENDS BDAY, I STILL GOT HOMEWORK, SEE YALL WHEN ITS OVER 
> 
> THANKS FOR READING!


	6. Victory at Last

The game is over…

…but who won?

There was evidence of Qrow entering a relationship of course. He was heard humming throughout the halls, had that soft smile aimed at nothing in particular, lost in thought, didn’t do a single self-deprecating joke, and also there were some serious hickies on his neck.

So yeah, Qrow’s is happily in a relationship.

But no one knows with whom.

“It’s Clover,” Jaune stressed to them.

This discreet debate is held in the official meeting room, the one with many chairs for the many people too emotionally invested in this game.

“Wouldn’t Qrow be the type of person to kiss back?” Weiss countered, “Clover’s neck is free of any possessive mark.”

“Qrow would kiss _lower_ ,” Nora wiggled her eyebrows.

“I do not want to imagine that,” Ruby stated.

Behind the red hooded, Winter agrees, “Seconded.”

“Plus we would’ve noticed any bite marks in the locker room,” Harriet countered.

Right now everyone is sitting with their fellow alliance. Being impartial, Blake guards the coffee machine in case anyone gets stupid ideas.

To the left is Team Lucky Charms, the right is Team Iron Feathers, and far center is Team Tai Qian Qrow. Yeah no one but Yang likes that name and couldn’t think of anything else.

Preluding this meeting, each team had their fair share of wacky hijinks in which comedy ensues.

Qrow and Clover were anonymously set up at a candlelit dinner at Mantle’s best restaurant. It was later discovered that Clover’s wallet was missing after a miraculous team up with the Happy Huntresses.

The creative minds of Penny and Fiona decide to lock Ironwood and Qrow in a supply closet. To an outsider, it appeared that Qrow’s semblance was at play but the old crow senses a prank a mile away.

Then it is no surprise when Yang goads her dad and other dad-figure into a sparring match. The training arena is still under construction to this day. That sends the two hunters laughing about the good old days.

Somewhere in the week, Winter decided to avoid the escapades of this game by placing her chips onto the Taiyang Xiao Long boat. Apparently her logic is that there is a one hundred percent chance of Qrow leaving Atlas if he romances the other Beacon hunter.

Thus that starts the debate of if Clover would actually join them if they leave Atlas or if Ironwood convinces Qrow to stay in the city.

Once again, this game takes a turn that Blake always saw coming but sees the drawling realizations upon her friends’ faces. They all want Qrow to be happy and potentially in a romantic relationship but what will come after?

(Ignoring the rising tension of the war with Salem of course because this is supposed to be a fun, fluffy story of love and romance)

According to Penny, the statistics of Qrow staying with the kids is a high outcome if he romances Tai, a medium outcome with Clover, and a low outcome with Ironwood. Now that it appears that Qrow is in a relationship, questioning who he’s with has a new underlining anxiety.

“It could be the General,” Ren suggests, “we have caught them looking at the world map for redistributing troops and resources.

Oscar immediately tacks on, “Qrow called it vacation plans, only he could get James to relax.”

“OBJECTION!”

“Nora this isn’t a court room.”

But if it was, Blake is clearly the judge and depending on everyone’s caffeine levels, she’ll also be the executioner.

The thunder hammer still has a pointed hand out like a lawyer, “Qrow only started thinking about vacation plans because he teased Clover about working too much.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Weiss countered.

“Also Qrow makes fun of the rest of us as workaholics,” Elm added. She and the other operatives take a backseat to this feud, letting the Beacon hunters take charge. They’re mostly here to see if a fight breaks out.

“We on the other hand,” Yang swiftly dislodges her prosthetic arm to wave it around, “do have evidence for our team.”

Ruby smugly links her scroll to the main projector to present a short video of Tai and Qrow dancing together in the kitchen. It’s the tail end of their sweet moment because suddenly smoke is rising out of the oven and Ruby’s scream for cookies cuts out as the video ends.

“Oh yeah?” Jaune challenged, “Are you forgetting the morning where Clover and Qrow cooked us breakfast?”

The young huntress stuck out her tongue, “His pancakes aren’t that great.”

A gasp rips out of Marrow, in defense of his captain, “You take that back!”

“To be fair, your heavy consumption of sugar has ruined your taste buds,” Weiss said, always judgmental and prepared for the day Ruby needs an expensive dental appointment.

Blake sighed as the debate returns to its usual chaos. Sure that’s no surprise for the Beacon hunters but it’s pretty funny to see the Ace Ops add in their own exclaims about their captain or general. Even Winter gives her honest opinion of how this game should cease by just getting Qrow a date with anyone.

A voice cuts through the ruckus.

“So did I miss the text of a meeting or was this supposed to be top secret?”

Everyone stops their arguing and stares with comically wide eyes at the door. Qrow is nicely dressed in a dark suit but his posture is as always lax and a bit crooked.

His youngest niece takes the spotlight of lying, “Um no we were just all causally here not for any suspicious reason.”

“Heh wow,” he snorts and rolls his eyes, “and you want to go undercover.” Qrow takes another look around the room, “So what’s this all about?”

“What’s your suit all about?” Nora derails.

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

A real laugh passes through Qrow, making him look younger, “You’d be a great lawyer.”

Elated, Nora boasts around, “See, this is a court room!”

Qrow raises a brow to Blake, the one furthest away from the crowd, “Do I even want to know about this?”

“Actually yes,” she tells him seriously. Blake ignores the look of panic across everyone’s eyes. “We were wondering if you’d ever leave us.”

That catches everyone off guard, Qrow because this just got heavy and the others who nearly thought the cat was letting the metaphorical cat out of the bag.

“I um,” the older huntsman worryingly looks at his kids, “Why would you think about that?”

Ruby shrugs uncomfortably, “What if one day, we’re all not together, like you have the option to leave us or something.”

She shares that miserable expression with Oscar and Nora, the most visibly distressed over this outturn of curiosity.

Qrow immediately walks over to them, a hand on Ruby’s arm, “I’ll always be there for you kiddos.” He makes sure to look at every single one of his kids, “That is if you still want to hang out with an old man like me.”

“You’re our old man,” Nora cheers and she nearly beats Ruby at hugging the old bird. “Also we answered your question, now answer mine.”

He straightens out the wrinkles once the girls let him go, “I’m going out so be on your best behavior, whatever that may be.”

“Going out?” Yang grins teasingly, “Like on a date or on your brooding moody hours?”

“Does this suit look like it’s for brooding?”

“Yep.”

“Uh huh.”

“Totally.”

“It’s better than pajamas.”

Qrow shakes his head, “You all suck.”

“So who are you going with?” Ren asks and everyone tries super hard to look casual but Blake sees the way a few of them are nervously tapping their feet and whatnot.

“Jimmy’s taking us to some fancy, upper class restaurant,” Qrow answers and Team Iron Feathers have stars in their eyes, not that Qrow notices, he grins at Ruby and Yang, “That means getting Tai into a stuffy suit.”

“Dad in a suit?” Yang laughs and doesn’t bother hiding how she and Ruby high five.

Qrow takes reads that as just regular family teasing, “Oh yeah, Clover had a fun time convincing him to dress up.”

“Clover’s going with you too?” Jaune clarified and next to him Marrow’s tail is wagging.

“Yep,” Qrow popped and his smile is honestly the best thing they all have seen, “It’ll be the four of us.”

Before anyone could explode, Blake cuts in to gently urge Qrow out the door, “Then you shouldn’t keep them waiting, right? Have fun!”

Right as Blake shuts the door behind him, Qrow snickers and winks at her, “You too.”

It is quiet for a beat and then everyone chatters madly at the universe. Yang is swinging Ruby in her arms, Elm and Marrow and Ren are dancing in place, Harriet and Jaune are laughing too long to be normal, Nora is currently bench pressing Oscar in joy, Vine is making sure Oscar isn’t getting dropped, and Winter is rubbing her forehead.

“Alright!” Blake called for everyone’s attention, “pay up.”

Nora muttered curses under her breath as she sets Oscar down and hands over the lien. Others made similar movement for their wallets.

“Wait, you all betted money?” Weiss judged, “Hmm, at least my team didn’t… Vine!”

“I’m not as bad as Harriet,” was the pale man’s defense.

“What?” The speedster operative finished giving Blake her dues, “So I’m a bit of a gambler, no big deal.”

“I really thought it was gonna be Clover,” Jaune complained.

“Well we were both right,” Ren said and took Nora’s hand, a sign that the game has ended.

“But most importantly,” Yang slides over to wrap an arm around Blake’s waist, “Blake wins.” Her grin grows, “So I was thinking, instead of money I could give you something else?”

Blake rolls her eyes and claims her victory kiss from Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I FINISHED THIS
> 
> apologies for the delay, i kind of got sidetracked by other stuff and had a block but now i have returned to finally fcuking finish this story. 
> 
> thank you all for reading, truly i am grateful, everyone stay safe and idk the world is messy rn, thanks for coming by!


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